Burping doll



Patented Aug. 12, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,606,399 BURPINGDOLL MurielV. Graham, Kent, Wash. Application March 9, 1948, Serial No.13,800

Claims.

My present invention relates to the general'art of sound producing dollsand more particularly to a burp-ing doll.

Dolls for the amusement and entertainment of children have been producedfor as far back as we have known history. However, since the era ofmanufactured devices there has been a very extensive development ofdolls which endeavor to simulate in some manner one or more of thecharacteristic actions of human infants. We have, for instance, thesleeping doll which is equipped with means 'for closing its eyes, dollswhich are provided with means that simulate the wetting of diapers, andthere has been quite a development of dolls carrying sound producingmeans. The highest development of this latter type of doll, probably,being one which produces the sound of mama. This latter form of soundproducing mechanism cannot in real truthfulness be applied to baby orinfant representing dolls since infants are unable to pronounce words.

The mechanisms that have been observed in the sound producing dollsnormally use means that are most properly classified as whistles in thatthey normally employ substantially fixed elements which eitherthemselves vibrate at high frequency or which cause the air stream to beso sharply changed in its course of direction that the whistling actionis obtained. In reviewing a large number of such constructions itappears that none of these sound producingmeans produce a sound'that istruly characteristic of an infant. In counter distinction to the above Ihave provided a sound producing mechanism for use in my doll thatproduces the very characteristic burping sound of an infant that is veryprevalent during its nursing period. Thus it is believed I have produceda life-size sound that is very characteristic of an infant which isrepresented by the usual baby doll.

I produce my burping sound by means of a flexible tube. Many types ofmaterial are avail,- able for the production of such a tube; however, itappears that a flat rubber or neoprene tube can be most easily made toproduce this distinctive sound. A means of producing air under lowpressure is necessary to produce the actual sound. This may be theentire body of a rubber or a flexible bodied doll that is air tight, orin a soft doll a large bulb or piston arrangement would achieve the samepurpose. In any event, however, low pressure air is most desirablebecause, in effect, the infant in producing the sound is itself actuallyusing low pressure air.

The low pressure air is discharged out through the flattened end of theflexible tube so that a two-fold action occurs: one is the low frequencyvibration of the end of the tube and the second is the distortion of theair column as it is projected from the tube. A study of the human throatwill indicate that the burping sound of an infant or an adult is madegenerally by the same type of action.

The principal object of my present invention, therefore, is to produce ababy doll having a mechanism which will produce a distinct burpingsound.

A further object of my invention is to produce a mechanism capable ofgenerating a burping sound which is simple in construction to the endthat it will give long useful service and be so economical inconstruction that it may be applied to dolls in the lower price range.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby th burpingsound can be generated Within reasonable frequency limits and then, byadjustment, be fixed so as to thereafter reproduce a sound of a definitetype.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby a burpingsound producing mechanism can be readily adapted to dolls of differentstructural forms.

A further object of my invention is to provide a sound producing elementwhich generates a sound within the head cavity of the doll so thatthemuifling of this cavity furthers the truthfulness of the burpingsound.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from thedescription and disclosure in the drawings or may be comprehended or areinherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a dolls bodyand showing the essential elements of my sound producing mechanism.

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the basic sound producing mechanismemployed in my invention.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane of line 3-3of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated byline 4--4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View showing the housing member ofFigure 3 and showing a modified form of the same.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference charactersindicate like parts, the numeral l0 designates the housing member of mysound producing mechanism, this member can be made of any inertmaterial, although experiments to date indicate that wood is the mostdesirable material. Reference is now made, particularly, to Figure 3 fora typical construction of this housing member; the exact construction ofnecessity must vary somewhat with the structure employed in the dollitself. For an examplary showing I have illustrated in Figure 1 a typeof doll construction in which the body B is made of resilient rubber andthe head portion H is formed of a reinforced plaster composition. Ittherefore follows in this present showing that the doll body B isemployed as a bulb having an air inlet valve V. If the form of dollstructure was to be employed wherein the body was kid-covered and softfor instance, it would be necessary to employ a resilient orself-filling b-ulb which in turn would need a means for securing it tohousing 10. Such details of construction however, it is believed arewell within the scope of those skilled in this line of endeavor, and forthe sake of simplicity have been omitted in this present disclosure.

Housing Ill is provided with a bore [2. This, as will be noted byreference to Figure 4, is eccentrically positioned with respect tohousing [0. Such a construction provides a heavier side wall on the lefthand side of Figures 2, 3, and 4, as viewed in the present drawings andhas been found desirable, especially when wood is used as the structuralmaterial. Coaxial with bore I2 I provide a bore of reduced diameter l4,into which is inserted tube l6. Tube I6 extends upwardly sufficient toextend Well into bore l2, substantially above the floor I8 of bore l2.To the upward extension of tube It? I secure a second tube as 20. Tube29 has an annular lip at 22 so as to provide a secure seat for theresilient tube 24. This construction provides an exact positioning oflip 22.

The most suitable material I have found for tube 24, to date, is a firmrubber tube. The desirable characteristics of this tube are that it canbe distorted to give the flat nozzle efiect desired and can bemaintained in that distorted position for long periods and still worksatisfactorily. The choice between a flat formed tube or a round tubewill depend on the characteristics of the material of which the tube ismade. It further must have the characteristics that permit it to bedistorted as air is forced through the same in such a manner that it,itself can vibrate on the end and thus give a pulsating effect to theair that is forced through the tube. This action accounts for thedistinct sound that can be so produced and which I prefer to identify asa burping sound. Experiments have indicated that some of the syntheticrubbers are usable and certain of the plastic materials, particularlythose that are formed of fibres which are consolidated by plasticmaterial.

A desirable form for tubular member 24 is that probably best illustratedin Figures 3 and 2. In these showings the lower portion of the tubewhere it engages lip 22 is either circular or oval in cross section andthen the tube is flattened, without stretching, so that the inner wallof the tube forms a single line after the showing of Figure 2 and withthe two side walls, as thus produced from the tube, lying in closeabutting relationship over considerable length. This gives a generaleffect much the same as when an individual, even an adult, burps, thesound they produce is not a controlled elfort but actually a sound madeby the air coming up through the throat passageway and forcing aside themembranes that normally tend to close that opening until they arefinally discharged in the mouth 4 cavity. This similarity is fullycarried out by the doll head H, which in effect, acts to a degree likethe oral cavity of the mouth and tends to modify and muffle the burpingsound. If Figure 3 is studied it will be seen that air coming up throughand being discharged out tube 24 i following a course very similar tothat experienced by air coming up from the stomach through the throatand into the mouth cavity.

Means is provided to maintain the tube 24 in its desired adjusted curvedrelationship. The means is preferably a wire member 26 which, as will beobserved in Figure 2, is bent back on itself and provides uniformengagement with the upper end 30 of tube 24 for considerable distanceand this engagement is in effect tangent to the curved portion 32. Form26, as will be noted in Figure 3 especially, does not extend to theextreme end of tube 24. The ends of the wire 36 are inserted and securedin the reinforced wall 38; the wire ends 36 can thus be adequately andsecurely positioned.

In Figure 5 I have shown a modification of housing It) only insofar asrelates to the two annular grooves as 40 and 42. These are adaptedrespectively to form a point of engagement with a doll body which initself is not self-constricting but must be tied or otherwise secured asin groove 40. Groove 42 is adaptabl to receive a rubber doll head.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the abovedescription and the disclosure in the drawings, that the inventioncomprehends a novel construction of a burping doll.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A burping mechanism, for a doll body having means for supplying airunder pressure as manual effort is applied to the body, comprising: aflexible burping tube to be connected to such air supply means; meansfor bending the tube in a manner so as to bring its walls into contactadjacent the point of bending and thus to prevent free flow of airtherethrough, the last said means being arranged to restrict vibrationof the tube in one direction and being arranged so that the tube ispermitted to straighten under application of air of sufficient pressure,thus opening the tube for air flow and producing a sudden noisesimulating a belch.

2. A burping mechanism, for a doll body having means for supplying airunder pressure as manual effort is applied to the body, comprising: aflexible burping tube to be connected to such air supply means, meansrestricting the vibration of one side of the tube with respect to theamplitude of vibration of the other side, said burping tube beingflattened with its inner walls pressing against each other to normallyprevent passage of air through its passageway, said burping tube beingpositioned with its longitudinal axis curved, whereby a sudden burpingnoise is produced when sufficient air pressure is applied to the burpingtube to open said passageway.

3. A burping mechanism, for a doll body having means for supplying airunder pressure as manual effort is applied to the body, comprising: aflexible burping tube; means for connecting said tube to such air supplymeans and for supporting said burping tube, said burping tube beingpositioned with its longitudinal axis curved and being flattened withits inner Walls normally pressing against each other to prevent passageof air through its passageway, whereby a sudden burping noise isproduced when sufficient air pressure is applied to the burping tube toopen said passageway.

4. A burping mechanism, for a doll body having means for supplying airunder pressure as manual effort is applied to the body, comprising: aflexible burping tube; a housing for connecting said tube to such airsupply means and supporting said burping tube, said housing having meanspressing against said tube positioning said tube with its longitudinalaxis bent, said burping tube being flattened adjacent said bend with itsinner walls pressing against each other to normally prevent passage ofair through its passageway, whereby a sudden burping noise is producedwhen sufiicient air pressure is applied to the burping tube to open saidpassageway.

5. A burping mechanism, for a doll body having means for supplying airunder pressure as manual efiort is applied to the body, comprising: asounding member formed of resilient material having an air passageway,said air passageway being bent and having its opposite inner side Wallsresiliently pressing against each other adjacent said bend to normallyprevent passage of air through said passageway, means restricting the isproduced when sufficient air pressure is applied to the burping tube.

MURIEL V. GRAHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 23,001 Porter Feb. 15, 1859628,670 McNamara July 11, 1899 723,292 Metzger Mar. 24, 1903 1,484,148Olt Feb. 19, 1924 2,317,255 Crowell Apr. 20, 1943 2,346,580 Henry Apr.11, 1944 2,350,187 Pfeiffer May 30, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 583,132 France Oct. 27, 1924

